Oh Danny Boy! Rape allegations against Jordaan

The woman who's accused Safa president Danny Jordaan of raping her says that by speaking out - even after 20 years - she hopes to encourage those who've gone through the same ordeal to also break their silence.

Eyewitness news reports the former ANC MP and singer Jennifer Ferguson took to Facebook with the allegations and also shared a blog post.

After more than 20 years, Ferguson has spoken of her ordeal as part of the #MeToo campaign. Women around the world have been sharing their experiences of sexual harassment using the hashtag.

According to the post Ferguson claims she was sexually assaulted in a Port Elizabeth hotel room and named her alleged rapist as Danny Jordaan. She says he invited her to go for a drink after she gave a performance.

Ferguson claims that once he entered her hotel room Jordaan overpowered her “and painfully raped me. It must have been over in about 20 seconds although it felt like a lifetime. He left immediately without saying a word.”

Ferguson says she was not sure what to do.

“Bewildered. Not sure what to do. I washed and left the hotel and began to walk. I reached the beach and sat there a very long time trying to process what had happened. The thought of going to the police felt intolerable. What would I say? Should I have screamed louder? Fought him off harder? Had I been complicit in some way?”

In the post she adds: “I am deeply sorry that I was unable to report it when it happened. I apologise from my heart to any woman or young girl that may have suffered abuse by this man, as a result of my colluding in the conspiracy of silence.”

Ferguson says it’s better to speak out about the abuse than to keep silent.

“I am hoping that people who have not had the gift to publicly disclose and be believed, that I can also facilitate in whatever way I can.”

Ferguson says she battled with the pain for many years.

“What prevented me from reporting it straight afterwards was that I had already washed. I had walked to the beach, I was completely in shock.”

Eyewitness News has made several attempts to contact Danny Jordaan without success.